UK rail firm's parent seeks bankruptcy protection in US

The parent company of London-to-Scotland rail firm GNER today filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.

Sea Containers, the passenger and freight transport business, said it was unable to pay a $115m (€92m) bond which had been due yesterday.

The company, which has outstanding debts of $650m (€520m), is in the midst of a restructuring programme after being suspended from the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month.

Today’s move will give it protection from legal action by creditors and space to restructure.

Sea Containers said the control and operations of GNER, the rail franchise which runs the East Coast Main Line, were not affected.